Chapter 15: Talent

Chapter 15: Talent

Chen Shouyi couldn’t help but imagine himself as one of the examinees. Though he wasn’t sure if he could pass, he realized he could perform even better. His body was far more agile than the other candidates, and his Basic Step had gradually become second nature to him.

The robots exhibited slight pauses in their reactions each time, making them far from invincible. As long as he kept his body moving at high speed without lingering too long in one spot, he could easily close the distance.

"Next, candidate number 102, Chen Xingyue, proceed with the assessment."

Chen Xingyue immediately stood up.

"Don’t be nervous. You can do it," Chen Shouyi reassured her.

"You’ve got this!" Lu Shuyuan and Zhang Qianru cheered as well.

"Mm!" Chen Xingyue nodded firmly and strode toward the Platform.

Without hesitation, she took a deep breath and stepped into the Sensing Zone.

"Assessment begins."

Chen Xingyue picked up the Wooden Sword and began circling along the edge of the robot’s attack range. As she moved, the two Mechanical Arms slowly adjusted their positions.

Chen Shouyi watched his sister intently. This was the first time he had seen her in combat, and he couldn’t help but feel nervous for her.

Then, Chen Xingyue made her move. With light steps, she advanced into the robot’s attack range.

In the next instant, the Mechanical Arm reacted instantly, thrusting the Spear toward her with a sharp hiss as it pierced the air.

Fortunately, she seemed prepared. With a slight sidestep, she effortlessly dodged the Spear, then abruptly accelerated, leaning low as she sprinted along the weapon’s trajectory.

Petite in stature, she tilted her upper body close to the ground as she ran, resembling a sprinting spirit cat.

The Spear retracted—Chen Xingyue charged forward!

At that moment, the robot’s other arm swung the Wooden Sword in a swift thrust.

Yet, even in her high-speed movement, Chen Xingyue seemed to foresee it. She rolled sharply to the left, narrowly evading the Wooden Sword.

Chen Shouyi clenched his fists, sweating nervously, but soon realized her actions were meticulously planned—perhaps even rehearsed countless times in her mind. Her direction led straight toward the Mechanical Arm wielding the Spear. Just as it retracted to prepare for another strike, she had positioned herself perfectly in its blind spot.

With a single decisive roll, she transitioned seamlessly from motion to stillness, rising back to her feet. Simultaneously, her Wooden Sword shot out like lightning.

Crack!

The Wooden Sword shattered, and the robot froze instantly.

"Assessment passed!"

"Yay!" The two girls immediately erupted in excitement, jumping up and down.

Chen Xingyue exhaled in relief, tossed aside the broken sword, and stepped down from the Platform.

As she passed Chen Shouyi, she maintained a composed expression, trying hard to appear nonchalant—as if it were no big deal.

But in the end, she was still just a fifteen-year-old girl. When facing her classmates, her joy quickly broke through. Her grin widened uncontrollably before she threw herself into their arms, bouncing up and down as she reveled in her triumph.

......

After Chen Xingyue shared the good news with her parents, the group soon found a relatively upscale restaurant to celebrate.

"Brother Shouyi, what’s your WeChat ID? Let me add you," Zhang Qianru asked during the lull before the food arrived, leaning in from the side.

"Add me too! We can chat together later," Lu Shuyuan chimed in, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"I don't use WeChat," Chen Shouyi said.

He found his sister's two friends overly enthusiastic, making him—a virgin with little experience interacting with girls—feel slightly uncomfortable.

The two girls seemed skeptical. In this day and age, who didn’t use WeChat?

"My brother uses an old phone that doesn’t support the new version of WeChat," Chen Xingyue explained beside him. "My mom is very strict about it."

"But Xingyue, how come your phone is a new one?" Zhang Qianru asked, puzzled.

Chen Xingyue’s expression faltered slightly. She thought to herself: This was a reward for being specially admitted to No. 1 High School. Back then, my brother was just average, so of course he didn’t get one. But she couldn’t say that outright—she needed another excuse.

Before she could think of how to respond, Chen Shouyi smiled and said, "I don’t have many needs. I usually focus on studying. For me, as long as I can make calls, it’s enough."

Chen Xingyue glanced at him with mixed emotions. Perhaps she had grown too accustomed to her brother’s ordinariness in the past, but she hadn’t noticed how much he had changed recently. He seemed more confident now, no longer blushing awkwardly in front of other girls and embarrassing her.

After lunch, they all went their separate ways.

When the taxi dropped them off at their doorstep, Chen Xingyue stopped Chen Shouyi as he was about to leave.

"Brother, wait. I have something to ask you."

"What is it?" Chen Shouyi turned around, surprised to see Chen Xingyue hesitating.

This wasn’t like her at all.

"Brother… have you already become a Martial Artist Apprentice?"

Chen Shouyi found the question baffling. "Are you dreaming? How could I possibly be a Martial Artist Apprentice?"

"Then… have you already refined muscles throughout your body with Meditative Self-Refinement?"

Chen Shouyi froze for a moment before asking in confusion, "How did you know?"

It was true—he had refined muscles throughout his body, but it was only a superficial imitation, far from achieving true Muscle Refinement. Still, it had benefited him greatly, making sword practice easier and Basic Steps more intuitive. Sometimes, his movements flowed naturally without conscious thought.

Moreover, his perception had increased by 0.5 points during this time, reaching 10.8.

Chen Xingyue quickly explained how she had figured it out.

So that’s it. He suddenly understood. However, this wasn’t the effect of his Meditative Self-Refinement—or at least, his bootleg version wasn’t that powerful.

The real reason was the lingering aftereffects of frequently inhabiting the Tutor’s body. Over time, his muscles had subconsciously begun mimicking the Tutor’s movements.

Of course, he couldn’t explain that to his sister. After hesitating for a moment, Chen Shouyi glanced around and whispered, "It’s not quite what you think. This isn’t the place to talk. Let’s go inside."

Fortunately, when they got home, their parents were still busy and only asked a few excited questions before letting them be.

Soon, the two of them were in the living room.

"There’s a secret I’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time, but I never found the right opportunity," Chen Shouyi said, carefully organizing his words in his mind.

Of course, he had no intention of revealing the truth about the Book of Knowledge. Something like that was far too significant—the fewer people who knew, the better.

"What secret?" Chen Xingyue was intrigued by her brother's mysterious demeanor and immediately leaned in closer.

"I discovered a trick in Meditative Self-Refinement. It's because of this trick that I can easily refine muscles throughout my body."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Chen Xingyue's eyes widened in disbelief.

Chen Shouyi was momentarily stunned—he had never seen his sister make such an expression before.

But he quickly composed himself and proceeded to describe the optimized version of Meditative Self-Refinement.

If it were the optimized Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques, he wouldn’t dare reveal it at all. After all, the modifications to that technique were far too drastic, and it wasn’t something he could pass off as an ancient manual found in some obscure corner.

Behind the Thirty-Six Body Refining Techniques stood the National Martial Arts Administration, hundreds of related laboratories, even thousands globally, and the collective wisdom of tens of thousands of researchers.

No matter how intelligent a person was, even if they dedicated their entire life to it, they couldn’t produce a more optimized version—let alone someone as ordinary as him.

But Meditative Self-Refinement was completely different. The optimized version barely altered the physical movements at all. It still involved entering a meditative state first, then refining the body’s muscles. The only changes were in the subconscious thoughts during the refinement process—all of them metaphysical concepts.

"That’s it? That simple?" Chen Xingyue gaped after hearing his explanation.

"Simple? No, it’s not simple at all!" Chen Shouyi immediately refuted after a moment’s thought. During this time, he had been scouring the internet for information on Meditative Self-Refinement and reading up on concepts related to subconsciousness. Even if he were slow-witted, he would have realized just how much the Book of Knowledge had transformed Meditative Self-Refinement.

Its optimization was far from superficial.

"First, your meditative state must be extremely deep, and you must be able to control your subconsciousness, knowing exactly what part of your body you’re refining next."

"It’s like learning Swordsmanship..." Chen Shouyi suddenly struggled to find the right words.

"Overriding innate habits!" Chen Xingyue offered after some thought.

"Exactly! Normally, when sensing the body, the subconscious perceives it as a whole. But this method forcibly overrides that instinct, making you perceive only the contours instead." Chen Shouyi said, as if suddenly enlightened.

Chen Xingyue looked astonished. This was far more difficult than changing a person’s movement habits. The former was at least tangible—though challenging, it could be mastered with effort. But the latter was utterly abstract, almost illusory.

Soon, a major doubt surfaced in her mind, and she asked directly, "Then, Brother, how did you learn it?"

Chen Shouyi’s face flushed slightly, but he quickly regained his composure. "Maybe it’s just my natural talent. I’ve always had an innate ability to control my subconsciousness."

Watching his skeptical sister leave, Chen Shouyi let out a sigh of relief.

Facing the scrutiny of a sharp-minded sister was an incredibly stressful ordeal.

If only she were a little less clever.